Lasa Hongfeng Hotel Lhasa

... the cool thing too is that its not just foreign<br>tourists who gape at the monks &#8211; other Tibetans come and watch. We<br>met one young man &#8211; an architecture student &#8211; who says that he<br>often comes by when he has free time. He says that he learns a lot<br>from the discussions.<br>Tonight<br>for dinner we had a yak pizza &#8211; which again surprised us by being<br>good. I mean nowhere near our normal throw-downs on the grill but it<br>was tasty!<br><br><br><br>

Indescribable Tibet <br><br><br> How to describe Tibet? I have heard it called "Shangri La", and I have heard it called "The Rooftop of the World", but there is really no accurate way to describe this amazing and mysterious place in a few simple words or even paragraphs. It is an absolutely amazing place that time seems to have forgotten. It features some of the most breathtaking man-made, and natural sites in the world. Its ...

... scenery (including some of the bluest lakes I have ever seen). People may rag on China about their oppression of the Tibetan people but I'll give them credit, they know how to build a road. Once we got into China, the "friendship highway" changed from the severely rutted, washed-out mess we had in Nepal to something that would rival anything in the US. The ...

... was es diesmal ist.<br><br>Sich durch den Barkhor treiben lassen, vorbei an originellen Verkaufsständen und Geschäften - und zu meiner Überraschung eigentlich überhaupt nicht ständig von Verkäufern bedrängt.... angenehm... ich liebe das.... Menschen zu beobachten, zu sehn wie man als "Langnase" eigentlich immer noch als "exotisch" betrachtet wird... vor allem von den Menschen ...

... of the children. This is to give them good dreams and a good sleep. <br><br>In the next chapel there was a statue of the present Buddha. He was seated on a throne and surrounded by dragons. There was also the future Buddha and some scriptures. The next chapel has the future Buddha, the 1000 armed Buddha and the Buddha of Infinite Light. The next chapel has scriptures, the present Buddha draped with white scarves and Tara.<br><br>We re-entered the main hall and saw ...

... and I ordered yak pie (like a quesadilla with ground yak and spring onions) and water. Bill ordered a yak burger with fries and Lhasa Beer. The pie was very good and the burger was very juicy! Yak is good. It is even better than bison. The restaurant was playing Beetles music and all of the staff spoke English. We played a round of Rummy and I lost. Boo! We came back to the hotel. I blogged for today and Bill headed up to the room. I hope he can get some sleep!

... longlevity, etc. Also, there are so-called Bhoddisatvas, beings who have attained enlightenment but have not gone to nirvana to help others reach enlightenment. Then there's a bunch of other Gods, such as the female God Tara (there's a white and a green Tara) and various protector deities that look very much like the evil manifestations of Hindu Gods. Then there's the holy men, either enlightened hermits (Milarepa), magicians (Guru Rinpoche) or founders of orders ...

... I was on the bottom opposite her this woke me up each time she got up. It was a long night and I knew when the son woke up in the morning he would want to be up for the day as any child would. I just got up and went and sat out in the hall on the chair and enjoyed the scenery. The country side is very mountainie. We did climb through several passes where there was snow on the ground. Apparently we went by the largest, highest fresh water lake in the world and also ...

... gangs of road workers, China's new money tearing up the plateau for roads, bridges, mines and security posts. In one dumpy garrison town of thin air, karaoke bars and 'beauty parlours', I stopped in a phone shop to chat with a pretty Englishwoman, about 40, who said she was a 'healer' back home. 'It's horrible really, just awful, it's just been a huge disappointment,' she said of Tibet. 'The guide is terrible, all he does is sleep, or lie to us. Everyone is trying to rip us off.' She ...

... monitored by security agents and only a few hand-picked foreign journalists, who even under ordinary conditions must apply for permission to visit Tibet, were invited to cover the event. The three-hour relay was apparently completed without incident. It had been considered a flashpoint amid criticism by overseas Tibetan activist groups who accuse Beijing of using the event to symbolize its control over the region. China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans ...